A JAPANESE MYOCHIN SCHOOL IRON ARTICULATED MODEL OF A SNAKE

£20,000 - £30,000 £27,000

A JAPANESE MYOCHIN SCHOOL IRON ARTICULATED MODEL OF A SNAKE, JIZAI OKIMONO

19TH/20TH CENTURY

Realistically modelled, the very long and fully articulated body constructed of a multitude of triangular hammered plates simulating scales, the head with a hinged jaw opening to reveal a movable forked tongue, the eyes in gilt and with white metal pupils, signed Muneyoshi underneath the jaw, 124cm.

See the British Museum, acc. no.HG.207 for a comparable iron snake signed Muneyoshi and described as made by a later member of the Myochin family of armour makers.

When the Meiji restoration of 1868 forbade samurai from openly wearing swords, metalwork artists had to

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